Did Yonkers Woman Fake Cancer For Free Wedding Dress?

NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — She got a $1,200 wedding dress for free, but now there are reports that 23-year-old Jessica Vega, of Yonkers, faked cancer to get a discounted wedding.

After claiming she had leukemia and less than a year to live, Vega was the recipient of sympathy and good will from members of her community. Vega said she wanted to marry her fiancée and be with the couple’s baby daughter before she passed away.

Generous strangers in Middletown donated the wedding rings and wedding flowers in addition to the dress.

Over the weekend, Vega’s husband said the entire story was based on a lie. Michael O’Connell told the Times Herald-Record that he believes his wife never had a terminal illness — citing a letter from Dr. Dan Costin stating her diagnosis was fake.

Furthermore, the paper reported that when O’Connell called Costin’s Westchester office, he was told that Vega was “never a patient here.”